Recently USAWA members Dave Glasgow, Chad Ullom, and Thom Van Vleck went to Inverness, Scotland to attend the Masters World Champs of Highland Games. Unfortunately, Dean Ross was unable to attend. Dean was the last person to have attended EVERY SINGLE MWC since it’s inception a dozen years ago. Larry Traub was in attendance to watch and cheer us on. Dave and Larry had brought their wives along….I was stuck rooming with Chad…..

The event was great fun and I’ve already talked about the Guinness caber toss record. This was a three day event and it worked out where I could help Chad in the morning sessions when he threw and he could help me in the afternoon sessions. I know for a fact Chad helped me out and I hope he found me helpful as well. We would video each other throwing and assess mistakes and changes.

Chad Ullom between Wilbur Stam and Tommy DeBruijn....and Chad beat them both in the caber!

Chad was 4th in what I would call one of the toughest 40-44 age groups I’ve ever seen. He had former champ Mike Dickens to deal with as well as 6′10″ Tommy DeBruijn. Chad did extremely well against a field of some 20 throwers. His best event was the caber toss where he was one of only three in his group to turn the caber. He was in a dead tie going into the third and final attempt and ended up 2nd by a fraction. I have to say in my opinion I thought he won it….but they didn’t let me judge! It was that close.

I was in the 50-54 age group and I was dealing with two of the all time Scottish greats….Mark McDonald and Allister Gunn. Both former pros and it was no contest with 18 throwers in my group about who would be in the top two. Allister pulled out a close victory and the rest of use were really contending for 3rd. I was very pleased to have my 2nd best finish ever with a 5th. However, what really made my trip was winning the Weight Over Bar event for the 4th time at the World’s. I really thought I had no chance at beating the two legendary Scots but it ended up being my day! Chad was a big help spotting for me and keeping me focused. I get deservedly kidded for focusing on this event but I love it and I won’t apologize for enjoying my win even if it’s just one event!

Thom Van Vleck winning the WOB event.

I know Dave was in a very tough group. It was great to see him in Scotland with Larry. Dave’s best events were the hammers where he placed 4th in both the light and heavy. He was also 5th in the Heavy weight for distance. Dave was in the 60-64 age group…..Which had THREE former or current World Champs in his group….by far the toughest in my opinion relative to the competition and age. I think Dave would be at the top had he not blown both quads a few years back. I think he’s an amazing story recovering from that injury and coming back to throw well enough to contend for the podium.

Next year the World’s are slated for St. Louis, Missouri…back in the USA! Looking forward to it all ready!

The start of the Dinnie Walk, one of the events in the World Stone Challenge.

Al: Recently you participated in the World Stone Championships in Scotland. Could you tell me how you got invited to this prestigious event? Please feel free to share any other details of the event.

Chad: Well, Francis Brebner has been planning on doing this type of challenge for many years, but circumstances caused it to fall through. He didn’t tell me this, but I believe after the controversy involving the Dinnie stones last year, he decided that this was going to be the year to pull it off. Given the success in lifting the stones that Al Myers, Mark Haydock and I had last year, he extended an invitation to all of us to come over and compete in this challenge. I made it clear to Francis that I am NOT a stonelifter! I had success with the Dinnies because I have a good hook grip and a strong enough back. After the support he showed us on the Milo forum and in writing the Milo article, I wanted to go and support the event. Not to mention, it involved a trip to Scotland!

Inver Stone

Al: What were the events, and how did you do?

Chad: We started off with the Dinnie stone carry for distance. We were allowed to use straps since the farthest walks on record were done with straps. This caused even more of a dust up after we were done! Now, I have rarely lifted with straps so I made a big mistake! I didn’t wrap my right strap all the way around and after two feet my strap broke! I was going to try again, but someone shut us down early (that is another story!). The two feet got met 4th place, Mark finished 2nd with 9 (I need to check that) and a big Hungarian named Peter Putzer walked 18’4”! Going over the 5 yard mark that was our target! It was very impressive to watch!

We then did the bare handed walk with the smaller Dinnie stone. Mark took 1st in this event with 30ft, and I came in 3rd with 21.

Next it was on to the Inver stone. We were given 75 seconds to lift it as many times as we could with 1 points awarded for lapping it, 2 for bringing it to the chest and 5 for an overhead press. I was able to bring it to my chest 4 times which again placed me 4th.

Next was the inverstone carry. I went 1st here and made a big mistake! I brought it to my chest and squeezed, cutting off my breath so I only went 37 feet and finished 5th here.

On the final day, we threw a 98 pound stone that the Portland stone was designed after. This one turned out to be my best event and with some advice from Ryan Vierra, I took 2nd place with a throw of 12’2.

Mark ended up tied for 1st, but lost on count back to Istvan Sarai. Overall, I finished 5th, but it was a lot of fun and I was honored to participate!

The one handed Dinnie Stone Walk.

Al: I seen that you lifted the Inver Stone, something that you couldn’t do on the stone tour following the Gold Cup. I bet this was exciting for you. Could you share the details of that accomplishment?

Chad: That was very important to me. As I’ve said, I’m not a stone lifter, but this was something I really wanted to do. I was disappointed after the gold cup that I wasn’t able to lift the inver, but I was totally focused on the Dinnies! Well, before we got there, I felt the butterflies. After all, this was being filmed and I didn’t want to fail! I went over to warm up , I grabbed it and it came off the ground very easily! I had some issues with balance during the comp, but I was happy to bring it to my chest 4 times.

Hans Darrow hosted a good ole fashioned BBQ on our first night in Germany, and he welcomed us right into his home.

Al: I know after this Stone Championships, you went to Berlin, Germany to participate in the IHGF World Amateur Highland Game Championships. How did that go, and what were the highlights of competing against the International Highland Gamers?

Chad: That was a very humbling experience! Hans Darrow and his family treated us like one of their own. I’m happy to say that the international throwers are a great group of guys and I made some new friends! I finished in 10th place out of 14, I was happy with how I threw. I threw pretty close to seasons best in each event, nothing great, but I didn’t bomb anything either. The highlight for me was definitely caber. Going in, I wanted to surprise some people with the caber. I ended up placing 3rd here and was very happy with that. It was a tough stick, only 5 got a turn I believe. I’m happy to say that I was able to turn it all 3 times.

Setting up for the Weight for Height.

Al: I know there has to be at least one interesting story you would like to share with us from this trip. I don’t expect for you to share the ones you told me privately about Hamish Davidson, but I’m sure there has to be one that is fit to tell here!

Chad: That’s a tough one, LOL. The best stories aren’t mine to tell, but I can tell you Francis Brebner had me in tears for days after! So the best story that is PG would be after the bar closed down! Several of us decided to go out and celebrate. We started at the field watching the fire show drinking beer, diesel(beer & cola mixed 1:1), and a few shots. After a stop at a regular bar we moved to a dance club. Had a great time, and closed it down! A few of us decided to walk back to the hotel, a few others took a cab to another bar. So, 3am in Germany and everyone I was with spoke only broken English! We weren’t 100% sure where we were so one of the guys stepped away to call a cab and left me with his brother. Well, we waited….and waited…finally his brother laid down on the sidewalk and passed out! After a half hour, I woke him up and said we have to try to find our way! We disagreed on where to go, but I finally convinced him to head my way. Turns out, we were like 3 blocks from the hotel! We must been out there a half hour! The best part is we found his brother drinking in the hotel bar!

Hammer Throw

Al: What can you tell me about the organizers of these events?

Chad:Francis Brebner and Ryan Viera make up the IHGF(international highland games federation). I’m not sure how many countries they went through on this trip, but they are working very hard to expand highland games across the world! I would say they are having great success, the games in Germany had 14 athletes representing 11 countries! I believe it was the most countries in an international highland game. They are taking some heat for reasons I don’t understand in some circles. I can tell you after spending a week with these two, they are doing this for the love of the sport! They have a wealth of knowledge and a true passion for the games. They also drug test at each of their games which makes them fit right in to our way of thinking! I wish these men great success in what they’re doing.

Group picture at the Highland Game Championships.

Al: Thank you for taking the time to do this short interview. The USAWA is very proud of you and these great accomplishments!